War of Blood
by Tatsurou-san
Summary: Drago and Shendu enact an act of vengeance against Jade that touches off a war that will change the face of the Earth...and the Demon Netherworld. Rated for character deaths and possible future events.
1. Flames of Vengeance

1. Flames of Vengeance

"Mimi yago, mina michiwa...mimi yago, mina michiwa..."

Drago focused on his spell. It was almost complete. The shaping of the fires was difficult, as this was the blackest of darkarts, but once completed, it would give him the vengeance he sought...against the one who brought about his downfall and cursed him to be trapped in this nether realm for all eternity!

"What do you do there, son?"

Drago turned as Shendu approached, and he broke his connection to the spell, having done all he could for the moment. "I made a promise, old man. I'm carrying it out."

Shendu examined the working, the crystallization of dark fires, steeped in hatred and bloodlust. "I know the promise of which you speak...but there is only enough fire here for two sendings. If you truely wish to do the deed, you will need four."

Drago looked at his father, surprised at what sounded like...approval? "I would, Father, but my life force will only provide enough venue to deliver two."

Shendu waved his hand dismissively. "Let me worry about the venue, Son. You are not the only one who desires vengeance against that family."

Drago smiled. "Then, Father, would you help me with the shaping of this magic? The spell has taken much out of me, and I would not wish to lose control of it at this stage."

Shendu nodded, and they extended their hands together, chanting.

"Mimi yago, miya michiwa...Mimi yago, miya michiwa..."

Soon the sphere had expanded to double its former size, and the fires within roared, waiting to be unleashed.

Drago panted, short of breath, and turned to Shendu. "And the venue?"

Shendu, being pure demon and having more stamina than his son, grinned and waved his hand. Four dragon demon servants came out of the ether, awaiting orders. Shendu directed them to the sphere of fire, and they dove in. Their death screams split the air, and the sphere exploded. Floating there were four devil spirits composed of black fire. They awaited instructions.

Drago opened a view spell, and pointed out four targets. Nodding in unison, the spirits pierced the veil between the demon netherworld and Earth, carrying out their directive.

On the other side of the viewport, Jade Chan was enjoying her thirteenth birthday party. All her friends were there, as well as her whole family: both parents, Jackie, and Uncle. She was riding around on Tohru's shoulder, as El Toro and Paco demonstrated some wrestling for her entertainment. Viper was there, toasting her, as was Captain Black. And to top it off, this year nothing was going to interrupt her birthday and ruin it.

THere was a huge stack of presents, but that didn't really matter to her. Her family was here, together, and everything was perfect. She couldn't be happier.

Then the cake was wheeled out, with all 13 candles. Despite the amount of magic and Demons she had dealt with in her life, she wasn't superstitious about this.

Maybe she should have been.

"Okay, Jade," Jackie said, standing near to her as she sat next to the cake. "Make a wish."

She nodded, knowing what her wish would be. Leaning in, she thought, *I wish my life will always be so good,* and blew.

Suddenly the flames of the candles, rather than extinguishing like they were supposed to, flew together and exploded with a loud bang, demolishing most of the cake and splattering some all over Jade. "Okay," she demanded loudly. "Who's idea was it to-"

She stopped as she heard four screams of agony. Turning, her mouth dropped open.

Her mother, her father, Jackie and Uncle were clutching at their stomach's, screaming in agony. Uncle's eyes went wide, and he shouted out, "NO!" when Jade made to approach. Pointing at the ground as he stood near the other three, he chanted, "Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao!" and green fire circled them on the ground.

Suddenly, they all screamed in pain, and fire erupted from within them, consuming them. The fire tried to consume all around them, but the circle of chi magic contained it. Before too long, the circle was gone, and everything within it was brown and dead, and the four humans were nothing but charred bones.

Jade staggered forward disbelieving. "Mom...Dad...Uncle...Jackie...?" She fell to the ground, tears pouring down her face. Tohru went to her, fighting through his own grief to attempt to comfort her.

Watching from the demon netherrealm, Shendu nodded.

"Not as destructive as I had thought it would be...dawm the wizard."

Drago grinned. "Guess he still had some fire in the old bones, huh?"

Shendu chuckled. "Not anymore."

Drago held up a claw. "Slap me some scales, old man!"

Shendu watched him for a while, then shrugged. "Why not?" he said, as he engaged in what the youngsters called a 'high five.' 


	2. The Promise was Kept

2. The Promise was Kept

Jade stood through the funeral, not really listening or aware of anything around her. Dressed in black, her skin so pale, she looked like a shadow of her once vibrant self. She stared at the coffins, unseeing. Doctors might call it shock, or denial, but Tohru looked at things from a mystic perspective. With the death of her family, apiece of her soul had died, and only time and love would allow her to heal.

THough he mourned for his friend and sensei, he knew he would have to push that aside, deal with it at a later date. Jade needed him now. He watched as the coffins were lowered into the ground, listened as the eulogies were spoken. He watched as Captain Black approached him, downcast.

"Tohru," he started. "I'm sorry for the loss that has struck your family."

"But sir," he said, "it is Jade who has lost everything."

Captain Black looked at him. "Tohru, I know how close you were to Jackie and the old man. Whether or not there were any blood ties, they were your family."

Tohru nodded. He turned to look at Jade.

Captain Black continued. "I promise you we'll find out what caused this. Every resource of Section 13 is investigating this...and not just through the more mundane avenues."

Tohru nodded, only half listening. Just six months ago, he and Uncle had helped set up the mystic investigative division of Section 13. The events set in motion by Drago had opened the government's eyes to the existence of magic and, in usual government fasion, they had handed the problem over to those who had dealt with it. Once Section 13 had sole jurisdiction over anything magical, they had called on Uncle to help set it all up.

Black noticed Tohru's attention, and rested a hand on his arm. "Don't worry about Jade. I know the foster system is tough, but I give you my personal guarantee that she will find a way to a good home, and I'll watch over her personally until-"

"That won't be necessarry," Tohru interrupted. "I will take care of her. As you say, we are family, and I am all she has left now."

Jade flinched visibly, as if Tohru's words had been a blow. Turning to face him, her eyes poured tears. "Drago..."

"Jade?" Tohru wnet to her, picking her up to cradle her gently. "What do you mean?"

"Remember...remember when he kidnapped Uncle, Uncle Jackie, and Captain Black? What he said to us over the phone?"

The conversation suddenly came back to Tohru with stark clarity, and what he had said.

'Be there or you'll be spending the rest of your wonder years being raised by that 500 pound sumo!'

"He...he wanted us to give him what he needed to rule the world...and he didn't get the world...so he carried out his promise. Tohru...he did this." Jade broke down, sobbing into Tohru's chest.

Tohru turned towards the sky, watching the sun set. Sensei had taught him many things: how to use magic, how to be a good person, how to build a life of his own, how to tend to antiques...what it meant to be a part of a team that was also a family. But most of all, Uncle had warned him against the darker emotions: rage, vengeance, hatred. These were the path to dark magic, and must be avoided.

But in this moment, this last, most important teaching of Uncle's was discarded. Tohru promised himself he would take care of Jade forever, give her everything she needed all her life. And someday, someway, he would give her the closure she needed...as he ripped Drago limb form limb, with his bare hands if need be!

As he made this dark decision, he tilted his head back and let loose a roar, compounded of grief, love...and fury. For a brief moment, a remembered energy filled him, and a red glow emitted from the back of his eyes. 


	3. Final Decisions

3. Final Decisions

"You did WHAT?"

Hsi Wu was normally one of the calmer of the demon sorcerers. He tended to keep a cool head, not get emotional. Only Tso Lan was ever more cold and calculating then he was, mostly.

But when Shendu and Drago called the others together and blithely announced Drago's "great accomplishment of vengeance," Hsi Wu lost it. Rage seemed to consume him, and he lunged for Drago. Had Tso and Bai Tsa not restrained him, he would have torn the young upstart asunder, or at least tried.

The tried part is why his siblings were holding him back for his sake, not Drago's. Hsi Wu was the most accomplished magus among his bretheren, second only to Tso Lan in raw magical power. However, physically, he was the weakest.

When they managed to calm him down, Drago grinned and asked, "Have you an objection to my actions in eliminating two of our greatest enemies?"

Hsi Wu spat. "Pfah! Had that been your true intention, it would be most laudable. But don't even pretend that your intention was anything other than to bring pain - not to many mortals - but to one specific girl child who is the focus of your obsessive rage. You likked those people not to sow pain and torment amongst many, but to cause a fleeting agony to one passing mortal. How very...HUMAN of you, Drago. But then, what else can we expect from a HALF-BREED!"

Drago bridled, but Hsi Wu bored in. "That must eat at you, huh, Drago? No matter how much demon chi you amass...no matter how much magic you learn...you will never be more than a HALF-demon! I will not share breath or space with one such as you...a half-demon PRETENDER!" With that, Hsi Wu turned and flew to the furthest reaches of the netherworld he could find.

He didn't know how long it had been since he had turned and left that meeting, just that he hadn't seen any of his siblings since. That was fine with him. He spent his time now observing the human world through a mystic window. Even if he couldn't engage, it was entertaining, in the same way so many humans enjoyed watching soap operas. At least, it was supposed to be.

He found himself mostly watching Jade. When he had known her in person, she had been vexxing, curious, kind and cruel, vibrant and fierce. Despite her human nature, she had had an almost...demonic streak in her that had caught his eye. Watching her now, cast into dark depression that she struggled to overcome, even after...what looked like two years, he could only sigh in regret. Such a strong spirit, crushed...and towards what purpose?

As he watched, he reminisced about when he had been with her as a human. He remembered her open friendliness, and her inner fire. She craved the magic the way deep sea mammals craved the open air. He had always wondered what would have happened if she had been allowed to leap free of the mundane world and spread her mystic wings...wings that, it now seemed, had been rent and destroyed.

She had asked him to a dance, he recalled. It was a silly thing to think about. Nothing could have allowed him to attend that dance with her, even if he'd wanted to...which of course he hadn't! But then again, there was that spell he knew - he had used it once to hide from the immortal who hunted him - that he could have used. Of course, it would have sealed his demon powers for a decade. But then again, the wizards chi spell on his tail tip wouldn't have found him.

He brought his tail up into his line of sight. It was probably his imagination, but it still looked to him like it had a green tint from the spell. Looking back at the window, he thought some more. He had waited uncounted centuries in the netherworld to get to Earth. Would another decade ON Earth before moving his plans forward really have been so long to wait? Then he might have gone to the dance...and who knows what then over the decade? Human lives were so fleeting compared to demons...but so much more full.

"It could have been nice..."

"What could have, dear brother?"

Hsi Wu turned, not bothering to close his window. He saw Bai Tsa and Tso Lan approaching. "What does it matter to you?"

"Now, Hsi Wu, is that any way to talk to your sister?"

Hsi Wu spat. "Sister...what good is our bond of fraternity, when we would turn on each other on the slightest provocation?"

"Explain yourself," Tso Lan said, a slight undercurrent of anger to his voice. Hsi Wu envied Tso's control of his emotions.

"Think about it! WHen it looked like there was only one portal left to Earth, and only one of us could get through, did anyone hesitate to strike against sibling to be the one who claimed the world? Face it! When the chips are down, our brotherhood is just another fiction to be tossed aside!" He turned on Bai. "Can you honestly tell me that you believe that our bonds of blood are even as thick as the water that makes up your form?"

Bai rocked back as if he had struck her, and she turned and swam away into the netherworld. If Hsi Wu hadn't been so angry, he would have wondered about the drops of water she left in her wake.

He flinched as a spell bolt struck him. "That was uncalled for, brother," Tso Lan said dissapprovingly.

"Was it?" Hsi Wu was still feeling petulant.

"You are aware that each of us is defined by an emotion, as is the nature of demons?"

"Of course I am. We all know that. It's why we have to be careful of our emotions, because once we experience the one that defines us, it will consume us. Sister Po's gluttony consumes her as surely as she does the meals she uses to quench it."

"Indeed. For Shendu, it is his greed. For Drago, it is his wrath...enhanced by the human flavor of such emotion."

"You make us sound like the deadly sins humans fear so much."

"Not quite. For me, it is patience. Like the gravity I manipulate, I am inexorable, innevitable, immovable...and as such, I can wait eternally for a plan to come to fruition."

"I guess that's why you have such good control."

"Indeed. For sister Bai, however...it is loyalty. Specifically, to her family."

Hsi Wu winced.

"She would gladly give her own door to one of us...especially if that one knew enough to open other doors from the other side to release us all. You have no idea how much you're comment has hurt her at the deepest levels of her being. Her loyalty is strong and hard to lose...but once lost, one might never win it back. When SHendu betrayed us and sought to claim the whole earth as his own, he lost her loyalty...permanently. While the rest of us may choose who we are loyal to at any given time, she - unlike her element - is constant."

Hsi Wu sighed. "I guess...I owe her an apology."

"Indeed. She would not even speak up regarding the matter of Drago's ascension."

"Ascension?"

"Yes. As a reward for his strike against our enemies, it was propossed he be welcomed into our brotherhood as an equal...especially when he mentioned he knew of a way he could open portals from here into the human world."

Hsi Wu snarled. "And how was that suggestion handled?"

"It was passed. 5 for, 1 against, 1 abstination...1 absentee."

Hsi Wu didn't need to ask who were the outliers. Turning he closed the window. "Brother, I know Bai Tsa won't take sides if it comes down to it, but...I fear this struggle Drago has instigated will come to brother against brother, and for blood. If it does...where would you stand?"

"I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

Hsi Wu smiled, and gripped Tso Lan's arm. "Thank you, brother."

As Hsi Wu flew off, Tso Lan smiled. "I always wondered what emotion it would be...that consumed you, brother."

Hsi Wu found his sister rather easily. He just followed the trail of water drops in the netherworld air. As he approached her, he heard her choked sobs, and realized what he should have known before. He had followed a trail of tears. "Sister..."

She rounded on him. "Go away! Leave me alone!"

"Sister...I'm sorry...I shouldn't have said what I did. I...I don't know what came over me, I just can't seem to bring my emotions into focus..."

She stared at him, then floated over. "I, too, am sorry. This will be a hard time for you. When emotion first begins to consume is the harshest part of a demon's life cycle, and it has come so much later for you."

Hsi Wu's eyes widened. "Is that what's been happening to me?"

She nodded. "Indeed. So, brother, tell me...what plagues your thoughts the most?"

He thought for a time, unaware his stray thoguhts had opened the window again behind his head, on its original focus.

"Enough," Bai said, bringing him back to himself as the window closed. "I see why you have been reacting so strongly." She was quiet for a while.

"Sister?"

"...in the depths of the netherworld, there is an ancient library. The legends say it contains spells a demon may use to take them to the human world permanently, and make them a par tof it...but none who have tried have survived the transfer. Good luck, brother, and may your endeavors prove fruitful." Turning, she flowed elsewhere.

Hsi Wu sat upon his rock for a time, then spread his wings...and dove.

Hsi Wu finally came to the ancient structure, old as time. Folding his wings, he walked the halls, picking up a book here and there to read. At first it seemed that none of them would tell him what he needed to know...until he came to one that was painful to the touch.

He stared at the book for a long time. He knew what that meant. It was composed of good magic. Steeling himself, he pulled it out. When the pain was too much, he dropped it...and it fell open. Reading the page, he came to several realizations.

He knew why any demon who cast the spell he'd looked for died in transfer.

He knew to attempt this spell was to risk his entire being...turn his back on everything he was...and for what?

In his mind, he saw a figure, hunched down by a grief that threatened to extinguish a beautiful inner fire.

Sitting in the Lotus position, he drew the runes around him as his finger blistered from the magic he was wielding. Once the circle was drawn, he folded his hands before him, making several complicated hand signs. As the magic gathered, he gritted his teeth against the burning pain, and bean to chant.

"Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao...Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao...Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di-" he squeezed the last syllable out through gritted teeth "-Zao!"

His world went white.

In the whiteness, voices could be heard.

"Well, another one."

"Been a while, hasn't it?"

"Indeed. What shall we do with it this time? There's any number of punishments for breaking the rules."

"Exactly. WHich is why we must follow the rules and learn if his reason is worthy."

"He's a DEMON. What reason could he have that could possibly be worthy?"

"...check for yourself."

"...no way. Is that even possible?"

"Falsehood is impossible here. So what do you all think?"

There was a shout of many voices crying something, and the voice that seemed to be in charge said, "So be it."

And Hsi Wu's world went black. 


	4. Finding the Answer

4. Finding the Answer

Hsi Wu groaned as he woke up. His head hurt worse than a tree-year hangover, and the rest of his body wasn't much better, but he wasn't exactly a stranger to pain. Opening his eyes, he took in his surroundings. He was in a blind alley behind a dumpster.

Cheering was not the normal reaction a person would have to waking up like this, but in this case, the cheer was more for the fact that he woke up at all...because he made it. He was in the human world.

Getting himself under control, he scaled the wall of the taller building and climbed out onto the roof.

This vista...he knew it well...too well. The sloping roads, the bay, the bridge in the distance...looking down, he saw what he knew he would: a large sign reading "Uncle's Rare Finds."

He was here...exactly where he wanted to be. Now, all he had to do was turn himself human, go find Jade...

And lie to her. Pretend to be someone he wasn't. Walk along the same demonic path that had made her hate him before.

He stared down at the road, seeing yet unseeing. He couldn't approach Jade in human guise. She had been hurt enough. He would not cause her more pain if he could avoid it.

Why did this human girl cause such strange thoughts in him? WHy was she so special to him?

Seeing the door open, he shoved aside his thoughts as he was on the verge of discovery. Jade had stepped out. Judging by the sun, she must be heading to school. Apparently she lived her now. That made things easy...but also complicated. He knew exactly where she was, but the anti-demon spell on the shop was as strong as ever. He could not enter.

SO he would not. Watching as she headed towards school, he spread his wings and flapped experimentally. The pain hit him in a wave, and he folded them. Okay, flying wasn't an option. Seeing her path, he took a running leap, clearing the alley to the next rooftop easily. He continued this, one eye on where he was going, one eye on where she was going, following her all the way to school.

Maybe he couldn't go to her yet...approach her, explain himself...but he could watch over her. He chuckled to himself as he watched her through her classroom window. Imagine, a demon becoming a guardian angel.

He had been following her like this for nearly two weeks now. His wings weren't getting better yet; they still caused him pain whenever he tried to flap them, so it was likely at this rate that he'd never fly again. A small sacrifice.

He stiffened. Three young toughs were following Jade. Looking at them, he knew the type. As a demon, he had an instinct for the evil in the human heart, and he knew exactly what was on the minds of these three.

He watched through eyes narrowed to slits. He knew Jade well enough to know a premature rescue would not be welcome, and these three looked like they lacked training of any sort. Jade should be able to handle herself...but just in case, he would stay close.

Jade walked on, trying not to be obvious that she was aware of their presence. If they knew she was aware of them, they'd make their move too soon, and right now she couldn't face them head on. SHe needed to escape.

She hated to admit it, but ever since losing her family, she'd let her martial arts slide considerably. Sure, she was still pretty physically fit...but in a fight, she knew she wouldn't do well against three street toughs. Seeing an alley, she ducked into it...and cursed her luck. She would find the ONE alley in the city that was shadowed enough to hide in but too wide to triangle jump out of...and a dead end to boot! Moving towards the back, she tossed her pack aside and turned to face the opening. The three toughs stood there, leering at her.

"Well, well, boys...looks like somebody's eager to get it on, wouldn't you say?" the obvious leader said, grinning. The others chuckled appreciatively.

Jade snarled. This would happen the one day she went to school in a skirt! "Well, come and get me...if you think you're man enough!"

The three toughs charged in, and Jade quickly found herself outmatched. It wasn't that she didn't have more skill than the three of them put together...it was just that her training in multi-opponent fights had been limited. She could take any one of them down with ease...if the other two would give her the time and room to manuever properly. She managed to get a few good blows in, but then the largest slammed her into the back of the alley, wrenching her arm. She screamed as her shoulder popped, dislocated.

The three toughs laughed, and the leader said, "Well, that's a nice scream. Let's see what other noises you can-" Something moved up from the shadows behind him, and he was thrown hard against the wall.

The two other toughs turned to see what happened to their leader, and there was a snarl. Something grabbed the first one and tossed him aside like a sack of potatoes. He screamed as he sailed out of the alley.

Then the shadowy presence seized the last tough, the one that was still holding Jade. A crack was the extended arm breaking, causing him to scream and release her. Then he was pulled into the shadows, and several brutal cracks and thuds were heard, and the tough repeatedly screaming for mercy. Then he was tossed out, bruised, battered, and bleeding, to land on the leader who was just waking up. They scrambled to their feet and ran.

Jade fell to her knees, clutching her arm. A gentle hand grasped her arm and guided it gently back into its socket. She felt magic moving in her, deadening the pain. She glanced up and saw whoever it was backing into the shadows.

"Wait!" she said, and the figure stopped. "You...you saved me. Thank you. Won't you...won't you let me see you?"

There was a long quiet, then a voice spoke. "Are you sure you want to?"

She froze. She knew that hissing voice. "...Hsi Wu?" she asked, disbeleivingly.

He stepped out of the shadows...and she hardly recognized him. Crossing his blue skin in the pattern of veins were glowing green lines of chi magic. He was even more wizened than before, looking almost emaciated. His eyes, while still red, no longer glowed with the same light. And his wings...his wings were in tatters, and from the look of it, the bone was broken near the back joint in the left wing, and hadn't been seen to. Much longer, and it would tear through the skin.

"Hsi Wu...what happened to you?" she asked, concern in her eyes and voice.

It was more than he could take. Seeing him, her first reaction hadn't been fear, loathing, or an uncaring face as he had anticipated...but concern for his well being? Her first question wasn't How or WHy he was there, but what had happened to him? Did that mean...

Sinking to his knees, unable to face what was in his heart now, he wept bitter tears of joy and relief. Jade went up to him, concerned.

He heard a ripping and tearing sound, followed by the sound of something wooden being broken. Then he felt a painful jerk in his wing, and he turned. He could see the break...couldn't figure out how he had missed it for so long, he'd wondered what caused the pain in his wings. He saw Jade's hands on the break, gently guiding it straight.

"If I don't set this bone now, it will break through the skin," she said calmly as she splinted the break straight. "It will need more expert care later, but that should do for now."

"Thank you..." he whispered, unable to say more in the face of his emotions in the moment. Realization began to dawn on him, as several things his brother and sister had said to him came together in his mind, with the warmth in his body that seemed to spread from the point of Jade's touch on his wing, and painted a picture of the truth in his mind. A truth he knew she would never accept.

"How did this happen to you?" she asked again.

He blinked a few times. "This is the price a demon pays...for using a good chi spell." Jade's eyes went wide, and he chuckled. "There is a spell, hidden in a library hidden deep in teh center of the demon netherrealm, that contains a spell that can allow a demon to cross into the human world...and become a part of it. I...am the first demon to ever survive casting the spell."

"Why?"

"I don't know why I survived it, but-"

"No, I mean why would you do something like that?"

He sighed sadly. "It was the only way to reach you...so I could apologize."

"Apologize? For what?"

"Many things...pretending to be someone I wasn't and hurting you...causing you pain...but most of all, for not being able to stop what my brother and his son did to you." He looked her in the eyes. "No one should have to face that pain...especially not you."

She stared at him for a bit, then slipped his arm over her shoulder. "Come on, I'll get you to TOhru. He'll figure out how to fix you up."

"Are...are you sure he'll want to help me?"

"He'll help you if I tell him to." After they'd walked a ways, she spoke again. "We'll talk about what you said once you're better...and about what you didn't say."

He nodded, content to let himself be led. His fate was in her hands now...and he couldn't be happier. He understood now...the question that had plagued him, that plagued every demon, since birth.

He now knew his why. 


	5. Understanding

5. Understanding

Jade helped Hsi Wu limp through the streets of San Fransisco. Surprisingly enough, no one noticed an unhealthy looking demon limping through the streets on the shoulder of an adolescent chinese girl. THat's California for you.

Reaching Uncle's Rare FInds, she felt Hsi Wu tense as they crossed the threshhold, then relax. Suddenly she remembered the anti-demon ward. THat must have worried him, but coming in across her shoulder must count as being invited. Go figure.

"Tohru!" she called out. "Big T, I need you!"

Tohru came running out of the back. "Jade, what is it? What's the-" He stepped back when he saw Hsi WU. "Demon!" He reached for his blowfish.

"Tohru, he needs mystic medical attention. Help him, please!" Jade stared up at her friend and guardian, her eyes begging."

Tohru gazed into Jade's eyes. He'd promised himself years ago that he would give her whatever she needed, and she needed this. He nodded. "Bring him in back."

In the back room, Jade laid Hsi Wu down on the table as Tohru got to work. He knew quite a bit about demon anatomy, but, unfortunately, due to the direction of his studies, very little about demonic healing. He studied the problem at hand for a while.

"It seems he's suffering from a sort of broad spectrum chi poisoning. The only thing like it I ever encountered was when a human tried to cast a demon chi spell, and their chi became corrupted by demon power, but here...it almost seems like the corruptive influence is...purifying."

"He said he used a good chi spell to get here from the demon realm, and it made him a permanent part of the human realm in the process."

"I see." Tohru examined the green lines on Hsi Wu's body. "That would account for it, I supppose, but the pain would have been excruciating. I mean...remember how much it hurt Shendu when he tried to hold the Panku box?" Jade nodded. "This would be the equivalent of if we'd surgically implanted the box into him for the duration of the spell." He thought for a moment.

All three spoke simultaneously. "What a pleasant notion."

Tohru smiled down at Jade and Hsi Wu. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. "I have the components I'd need to perform a ritual cleansing...but perhaps that's not what I should be attempting. You need a certain amount of non-demon chi in you to bind yourself to Earth, but your current levels are poisonous to you, and ae preventing your body from healing. Hmm...I should be able to handle this, but it could take a few days."

Hsi Wu nodded. Jade spoke. "I could use a few days off of school, anyway."

"Jade, you still need to go to school!" Tohru said at his sternest, but Jade glared him down.

"After what almost happened today, I'm not going anywhere until my 'guardian angel' can go back to watching over me." She smiled at Hsi Wu's shocked expression. "Come on, Hsi, I might not have known it was you, but I could tell someone had been watching me these past two weeks, although I sensed nothing hostile in it." She continued under her breath, "though I had no idea why..."

"Guardian angel...not a bad idea," Tohru mumbled to himself, then hauled another table into the room. "Jade, lie down here." Confused, Jade did. "You will actually need to stay here for a time. YOu've actually been exposed to quite a bit of demon chi over the course of your life, up to and including a visit to the demon netherworld. Using your chi as a baseline, I can set the magic to stabalize the good chi infusing Hsi Wu relative to the demon chi you've absorbed over your lifetime. That should set things nicely. Of course, neither of you will be able to leave this circle until the spell is complete." Tohru completed the drawing and left to get more supplies, as well as food for both of them.

Jade smiled at Hsi Wu. "Well, now that we're alone..." She gave him an impish look...one he thought he might never see on her face again. "How about you give me a more detailed explanation of what you meant by 'especially not me'?"

Averting his gaze, Hsi Wu stated simply, "Every demon reaches a point in their growth where they discover the emotion that will consume and rule them absolutely for the rest of their lives, the emotion that will define them." He looked Jade right in the eyes. "I have discovered mine."

Jade stared at him for a while. "Oh," she said simply, blushing. She lowered her eyes.

Hsi Wu looked away. "I can understand it's a lot to take in, and I'll understand if you can't accept-"

"Shut up, Hsi."

He shut up.

Jade looked up at him for a while. "Correct me if I'm wrong...but are you saying...that you're in love with me?"

Hsi Wu looked her right in the eyes. "Yes, that's what I'm saying."

There was silence for a while. Then Jade nodded. "Good, I thought so." She rolled over on her table so her back was to him. "I'm taking a nap. Wake me in a couple of hours, would you?"

Tohru came in at this exact moment, somewhat confused when Hsi Wu stared at Jade's back choking and hissing for a bit, before resolutely turning his back on her and laying down, mumbling, "A pox on all females!"

Jade hid a smile.

Tohru, not understanding, went about his work.

After a while, Hsi Wu smiled to himself. It seems her fire burned brightly still. He wouldn't have wanted it otherwise. 


	6. The Plan

6. The Plan

Drago floated through the netherrealm after closing his window. He knew now that the plan he had propossed would work. The transfer could be survived. Something about the sellcasting must have gone wrong in the past, but he knew he would be able to get it to work. His wayward Uncle may have made light of it, disdained it, but his mixed heritage was the key to his plan.

Reaching the ancient library, he went through the books. He knew exactly which one he wanted...but he would need to alter the spell to get it to work ow he wanted. After all, he didn't want a portal: he wanted a bridge.

Finally, having gained the knowledge he sought, he went to the book Hsi Wu had left behind. Staring down at it, he reached out with his hand, grinning. As his hand approached the book, the demonic aspect of his hand withdrew, and it was a human hand that picked it up.

Drago grinned. It had worked. And now, he must research the spell. Any other demon would have had to cast the spell without examining it too closely, but his mixed blood meant he could wield good chi as easily as demon. Soon, he would have what he wanted. Soon, Earth would belong to him and his bretheren.

At least, the ones he allowed to live.

Hsi Wu groaned as he woke up on the third day. He could tell Tohru's magic had worked, because the pain was all gone and his wounds were healed. Well, most of the pain was gone. For some reason, his right wing felt like it was compressed by something, along with his right arm.

Turning, he saw something that surprised him. Sometime during the night - probably after Tohru had decreed the spell finished - Jade had climbed from her table to his and curled up next to him, laying on his right wing and arm. Somehow, without waking up, he had pulled her close and was - if he did not mistake the human term - cuddling her protectively, arm and wing folded around her.

He looked down at her face. The first two nights, he had watched her sleep. Her expression had always held pain, loss, fear. He knew she had been having nightmares. Those nights, he would have traded his right arm for the strngth to get up and comfort her, but he had still been unable to move. This morning, however, she had a contented smile on her face, no sign of nightmares. She had slept well, long and deeply.

He smiled. He couldn't get over how beautiful she was. He had never really approved of Shendu's decision to sire a half human child, always believing that humans existed to serve demons, but not in that regard. But now...if Shendu had found a human like this one, perhaps his decision was more understandable. Hsi Wu knew he loved her, and he knew that that love would define him for the rest of his life.

A sudden dark thought crossed his mind, and he pulled Jade closer, holding her tight. Demons were immortal: humans were not. Someday, no matter how careful they were and what magic the used, Jade would die. He did not know how he would bear it when it happened. Even the fear of that moment was enough to fill him with agony worse than casting the warp spell. He was not aware that tears fell from his eyes.

Tohru came in and saw this. While at first he was upset to see a DEMON getting so close to Jade, he saw her contented expression and realized she had initiated. He shook his head. *This will take some getting used to,* he thought. Then he saw the tears coming from Hsi Wu's eyes: tears he recognized. "What's wrong?" he asked the demon.

Hsi Wu looked at him. "Demons are immortal...humans aren't." He looked down at Jade with an expression of tender ain that shocked Tohru to his core. "What...what will I do when I lose her? How...how will I bear it? Do...do I dare to love, when I know it will die someday?"

The word 'love' shocked Tohru. His understanding of demons said they were incapable. But the last time he had seen tears like that was on Jade's face, on her 13th birthday. "...Humans deal with this, too. They risk love, knowing how much of themselves they will lose if their loved one dies, knowing that the grief might destroy them."

Hsi WU looked at Tohru in shock. "Why? Human life is so short. WHy would ou open yourselves to such agony?"

Tohru shrugged his shoulders. "Because if you do not love...then you are not truely living. To live is to love, and to grieve."

Hsi Wu stared at him for a while, then turned back and gently stroked Jade's hair. "I begin to understand...why demons always lose to humans. Demons think they know how to inflict pain and anguish...but they know nothing, compared to what humans go through as a par tof life..."

"They?" Tohru asked, intruiged by Hsi Wu's choice of words.

"Yes...they. I begin to understand what it means to be human...and it frightens me..." Hsi Wu blinked, and Tohru saw his eyes were no longer solid red, but were red irises against a black cornea, with a black slitted pupil.

Being here...being in love...was changing Hsi Wu. He was still a demon, that was true. But...the complete red eyes were a sign of evil power, all demons had them. Perhaps...perhaps the change to his eyes signified...that he was no longer evil, or at least no longer considered himself such.

The green lines of chi magic had faded from his flesh, but where they had been his skin was noticeably paler. As Hsi Wu stared at Jade, his eyes filled with a mix of love and fear, a flit of decision - of determination - flitted across his face, and green light briefly emanated from the paler parts of his skin.

Then Jade woke up. "Hey," she said to Hsi Wu quietly.

"Hey."

They stayed like that for a while, just staring into each others eyes, until Tohru cleared his throat. Then they jumped away from each other.

*Like teenagers caught making out,* Tohru thought to himself, thentried to banish the thought. He didn't exactly approve, but knew that if that did happen, there was nothing he could do to prevent it. Jade was slowly returning to her old self, which meant if she wanted something bad enough, she'd ignore everything to get it. Tohru didn't like to admit it, but Hsi Wu's arrival had a large part to do with Jade's recovery. Following that train of thought, he addressed them both.

"Jade, you will need to go to school today."

"Oh, shit!" Jade said, seeing the time, and rushed off to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

As Hsi Wu watched her go, Tohru addressed him. "I assume you are still capable of a human transformation?"

Hsi Wu turned back. "Yes. Now that I'm fully recovered, I can maintain it for hours."

"Good. Then Seaver Walsh the foreign exchange student will also be beginning school today. I've talked with Captain Black, and he's taken care of the enrollment and homestay paperwork."

Hsi Wu, averted his gaze. "I...I don't want to pretend to be human again. Not...after how much it hurt her the last time."

Tohru looked at Hsi Wu as if he had grown another head. Actually, if Tohru were honest, that would have shocked him less. Gathering himself, he spoke to Hsi Wu. "I resume you want to stay here with Jade?"

Hsi Wu nodded. "If I may."

"Well, if you're going to live in my house, you'll obey the house rules. I may not like it, but your being here is helping Jade to heal, to return to her old self. I promised myself when I adopted her that I would give her everything she needed, and right now she needs you. So if you want to stay here, then you will spend as much time with her as possible and appropriate, INCLUDING going to school with her. You can talk with her later about how she feels about you assuming a human guise." He turned to go make lunches for Jade and Hsi Wu. "The paperwork says you were homeschooled up to this point, so theyll understand if some of the school rules are a mystery to you."

Later, Jade and 'Seaver' were walking to school, carrying there lunches. 'Seaver' had short blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. His paperwork said he was from Wales, and he had affected a minor accent. He was dressed in T-shirt and slacks.

Jade had let her hair grow so that it hung around her shoulders. She was dressed in a tight fitting T-shirt and jeans, and was wearing an orange sweatshirt with hood open over the ensemble. "Nervous about your first day of school, Hsi?" she asked her companion.

"More nervous about how you feel about my pretending to be human," he said sadly.

"Why would it bother me?" she asked, confused.

"Because of last time."

She was quiet for a while, then spoke. "You're still you on the inside, right? Youre not gonna pretend to be someone else?"

"No."

"Then there's nothing to worry about." She reached out and took his hand. "What upset me the last time was the deceit. You were using the human form to use me, to get something you wanted. As long as it's just you being you," she smiled at him, "why should i care what face you're wearing?" She took her hand away. "Come on, we don't want to be late." She started to run.

'Seaver' stared after her for a while, then grinned. Running up behind her, he grabbed her up in his arms and spread his wings. "Then we won't be," he said with a grin, flying them to school.

"Umm...won't people notice your wings? And the flying?"

"Not if I don't want them to," he said with a grin. 


	7. The Message

7. The Message

It had been a month since 'Seaver' had started attending school. As Jade had expected, a hot foreign exchange student at a high school immediately shot up the popularity scale, and his obvious preference for Jade's company caused many girls to start gnawing their livers in private...a sound Jade secretly found most enjoyable. Confessing this secretly to Hsi one day while flying home had led to the biggest grin she'd ever seen him wear. "And I thought I was evil," he had said with a chuckle. "Demons are ancient, elemental when it comes to their evil...but humans are creative."

They hadn't actually progressed at all as far as 'relationship' went. No dates yet, although a purist would have counted the late nights when Hsi took her flying to help her to sleep. And it's not like they actually DID anything on the few - okay, frequent - nights she snuck into his room to sleep next to him. It was just that she hated to sleep alone: that's when the nightmares came, and Hsi's arms around her kept them away.

They hadn't gone to restaraunts, or movies or any of the normal date activities. Despite Hsi's avowal of love for her - which still made her blush when she thought of it - she would still qualify their relationship as "friends who live together." She had tried to talk about his...confession, mostly because she wasn't sure how to respond just yet, but he had smiled as she stumbled over the words. "It's alright," he had said. "No rush. Tell me in your own time, when you know what you want to say. I have nothing but time."

The more she thought about it though, as she dove back under the water as she did a few laps, the more she realized that there was NOTHING keeping her from being with Hsi in a 'more than friends' way. She DID like him: he was a real sweetheart, and very understanding of her needs. He took the time to learn what he could about her: likes, dislikes, pet peeves, and hot buttons. He never pushed, and genuinely just wanted to spend as much time with her as possible...but was very perceptive when she needed her space and gave it to her. Although explaining her outbursts towards him last week had been...unnerving. He still wasn't completely clear on "that time of the month," as it didn't happen to demons.

Admittedly, those of her - she could call them this - extended family who had learned about him had had...mixed reactions. Captain Black had been ready to incarcerate him right at first...until Hsi Wu explained what Drago had done, and whhy he was there. Who knew that Black was a closet romantic?

Viper had been very blunt. Her exact words when she flew in to see them all had been, "Hsi Wu, I don't like you. Not because you're a demon, but because you're hitting on the closest thing to a daughter I ever had. But she likes you, so I'll tolerate you. If you hurt her, though, I'll rip your wings off and make you eat one, and shove the other up your ass until they meet in the middle. And don't get me started on what I'll do to you below the waist."

"Please tell me you mean my tail," Hsi Wu had said, sweating.

Viper had just smiled.

El Toro had been approving. But then again, with how concerned he had been with Jade's depression, he probably would have gladly welcomed the spawn of Satan with open arms if their presence had brought Jade back to herself. Paco didn't like Hsi Wu, but Jade was pretty sure that was because he liked her, despite repeated times telling him, both before and after 13, that she didn't see him that way.

Tohru hadn't liked Hsi Wu at first, but he had mellowed considerably. When asked about it, he had shrugged and pointed. "Scruffy likes him," he said. Indeed, at that moment Scruffy was romping around Hsi Wu, frequently hopping up to lick his face.

Ruby, the cat Jade had aquired during the Cat of Kartoum debacle, was also fond of Hsi Wu. She remembered her Mom had once told her a good way to judge potential boyfriends. "Watch them with your pets. If there's no treats involved, they'll tell you what the boy's really made of."

Coming up for air, Jade realized the only thing keeping her from pursuing a relationship with Hsi. She was scared, not of him, but of the future. What if she hurt him? What if it went too far? What if-

"Hey, Jade."

"Bwah!" Jade jumped back and patted her chest. "Sorry, didn't see you there."

Sharing the pool with her was a girl she didn't know, with blond hair and sea green eyes. She hadn't heard this girl get into the pool, or swim up to her. But then, she was distracted. The girl was in a school swimsuit, so she must be a student.

"So tell me, Jade. WHat's up between you and Seaver?"

"Nothing much. We're just friends."

"YOu're bopping him, aren't you?"

"WHAT? NO! Where did you get that idea?"

"Come on, Jade. For two years after the deaths of your family, you don't talk to anyone ever. YOu're as depressed and withdrawn as can be. Then you miss three days of school, and when you come back, it's with the hot foreign exchange student, you're back to your old self, and he's homestaying with you. It's not that hard to figure out."

"SHUT UP!" Jade pinned the girl against the wall. "Seaver's had a harsh enough life as is, and you have no idea what he's been through. He has a chance to make a fresh start here, and I'm not going to let viscious rumors like that screw things up for him, you hear me?"

THe girl looked at her for a while, then smiled. "There's the fire...keep it burning...you'll need it." SHe dives under the water and pops up behind Jade. "Give Seaver a message for me, will you? Tell him that family trouble crosses the bridge to America, using his passport, altered to the youngests specifications. He has one ally who will never betray him, and one who will stand by his side. No more can be said with certainty, except that time is short. One will cross over every month." She smiles as Jade stares. "And tell him...his sister says Hi, and wishes him luck...and says, 'Don't die.'" With that, the girl dove into the water, swam towards the drain...and vanished into it.

Jade held a hand out towards the drain. "Bai..." she said, amazed. SHe shook herself, and climbed out of the pool. She had to tell Hsi about this immediately. 


	8. Decisions

8. Decisions

After changing out of her swimsuit, Jade went looking for Hsi Wu. She didn't have to look very hard. He always seemed to know when he needed her.

"What's wrong, Jade?" he asked, concern shining on his human features.

Jade stopped. She was about to tell him everything, but she remembered that when she was in the demon netherworld, the demons sometimes watched Earth. Bai Tsa hadn't used names, or been explicit in anything, and had gone to the trouble of making the entire meeting seem perfectly natural. One thing she knew from Viper: you didn't do that unless someone was watching. Well, if they were spying on her, she'd make it had to track them.

"Let's go flying," she whispered, her eyes alight, and she winked.

Hsi stepped back a bit, a little surprised, but then he grinned. "Come on." The ducked into the trees on school campus, and she hopped onto his back. He spread his wings and took flight.

He loved carrying her through the Sky - his element - like this. It made them feel so close. He loved to fly liesurely through the air with her...but today was different. Something wa bothering her. "So what's on your mind?" he asked once they were over the bay.

She leaned close to his ear. "Go faster," she whispered, breathless.

He raised an eyebrow. "I'll have to chang back completely to do that."

"I know," she whispered, grinning.

He began his change. Jade had found a strange joy in watching this transformation, but feeling it like this...right under her, she felt the musculature shifting, felt the human garb vanish as blue spread over his skin. She felt his tail extend from his cocyx, felt he shift of his legs as the knee joint became more pronounced. It was so...exciting. She could feel her breath quicken as he heart rate increased.

When the change was complete, he looked at her. "So, how fast do you want to go?"

She grinned her excitement. "As fast as you can."

His eyes widdened, but he grinned. He mumbled something under his breath, and she felt the reaction of his magic. The air around them took on a blue tinge. "Hold on tight," he whispered, and took off at better than mach 2.

Jade clung to him. She had no idea he could move this fast when he wanted to. It was so...she couldn't find a word for it, but she loved every minute of it.

*It's just a speed spell,* his voice said in her mind. *A bubble of magic protects us from air friction and wind resistance, allowing us to achieve supersonic speeds without being torn apart.*

She blinked. *You can speak telepathically?*

There was a long pause, as Hsi went into a wide arc across the city. When he spoke again, his mental voice had an almost melting tone. *Only with someone with whom I share a bon of complete trust.*

Jade felt herself blush. He trusted her completely. And...she trusted him. This was proof of that. She couldn't hide from it any more, and he wasn't like other demons...

She remembered what she had to tell him. *Bai Tsa was at my school today.*

*What? How? Why? Are you alright?* Hsi's mental voice went from shocked to curious to panicked to protective.

Rather than try to explain everything, she sent Hsi her memory of the entire meeting, from Bai's sudden appearance to her surprising departure.

Hsi was quiet while he went through the memory. At first she felt anger from him, probably at what Bai had insinuated. Then she felt soft pleasure, and she blushed, knowing he was at what she had said. Then he stiffened. After a few moments, he did a complicated manuever involving the careful timing of folding and unfolding his wings to do a quick tight double loop through the golden arches of a McDonalds. These manuevers had always been fun for Jade before, like a roller coaster, but they were still going at Mach 2. It was one thing to ride a roller coaster, quite another to know if you so much as lift your head you'll get scalped by a fast food sign.

She didn't like it. She loved it!

After the manuever, Hsi Wu said several words in his mind that were quite shocking to Jade. She learned then that this mode of speech was more than just giving words. You also gave the meaning to the words. Jade was now familiar with several words that no gentle lady under the age of 742 should even hear. Apparently, not all curses invented by demons were magical.

*Hsi?* she asked, worried.

*The spell I used to get here...Drago played me! He knew about it, and used me to test if it could work! And now he's modified it into a bridge spell, and the only reason he could do it is because I showed him it was possible to survive the passage! That-* here Hsi used several more words that Jade wished she didn't now know he meaning of. *But how could he work with a good chi spell? His demon blood would reject it!*

*But he's half human...* Jade shuddered, thinking of the damage Drago had caused last time he was in the human world. That spell he cast that ripped open the demon gate...

Hsi Wu picked up the memory. *That spell...no...*

*What? I know what he did with it was frightening, but-*

*With that spell cast from this side he could destroy the boundary that seperates Earth from the demon realms. Not just tear it open, but destroy it, leaving Earth totally defenseless against demonic invasion! Tha spell fuses human and demon chi magic!*

Jade shuddered. *But...if he can do that...Won't your siblings recognize how much of a threat he is? If he can do that, what's to stop him from killing you and your siblings to absorb your demon chi to make himself stronger?*

Hsi Wu's wings faltered, and he came in to land at the peak of the Golden Gate. *Nothing...he could do it easily. He wouldn't even have to kill us to do it. He could use the bit of our demon chi he already has to rip the rest of it out of us. And then...* Hsi Wu shuddered. He remembered Drago's all consuming hatred, and knew tha Jade was the focus of it. He knew what he would do to her. Thankfully, he was able to shield tha bit of information from Jade. He didn' want her to be traumatized even further.

*...then we have to stop him, somehow.* Jade's voice was determined. She'd fought and beaten Drago before, and now she had even more reason to. He had taken her parents...her uncle Jackie...and Uncle...and now he wanted to take Hsi Wu from her. She would die first...or kill first. *Come on. We should get back home. We need to do research.*

Hsi Wu felt the supreme confidence and determination coming from her, and felt heartened by it. Her inner fire burned brightly now, once again hot enough to consume the world. But it was more focused now, honed. He shuddered in pleasure as he felt the awakening of her warrior's spirit. Taking flight, he glided slowly back home.

When did he start thinking of the antique shop as home?

Oh yes, that was right: the first day back from school, when Jade had turned to him and said, "Welcome home." But then again, it wasn't the shop that was home. It was her. 


	9. The Life Eater

9. The Life Eater

It was two weeks after Bai Tsa's message. Once again, Jade came awake with nightmares. It seemed she would never escape them alone. Getting up, she tiptoed towards Hsi's room. Once she curled up to him, she knew the nightmares would go away. They always did.

When she got to his door, she heard him curse. Sliding the door open quietly, she said, "If you're that noisy, Tohru will wake up and catch us."

She heard Hsi chuckle. "I'm pretty sure he knows you come in here every night. As long as he doesn't actually see it, he can pretend for your sake is all."

Jade smiled, then frowned. Hsi sat in the middle of his floor, in the center of an extremely complex magic circle. He was holding something wrapped in cloth, and it looked like he'd burned himself a couple of times. "Hsi, what are you doing?"

He set the cloth wrapped bundle down. "There's a spell that I think...will help us when we deal with Drago, but...I can't seem to cast it right."

"Maybe I can help," Jade said, stepping into the circle. The runes started to glow. "Are they supposed to do that?" she asked, concerned.

"Actually, yes. But they were supposed to be glowing all along." Hsi stared at the book he had, mumbling a bit. Then he held out the bundle. "I think, if we both hold on to it, then it should work, if we chant the right spells."

Jade stared at the bundle. It was long and thin, and she was pretty sure she recognized the shape. "Hsi...what are we making?"

Hsi sighed. "A weapon."

Jade gulped. "Are you sure we'll need it?" Something about the runes gave her the willies.

Hsi shook his head. "We might be able to beat Drago without it if he were alone...but some of my siblings have sided with him. If we don't even the odds...there will be casualties, and the outcome will be in doubt. I...I don't want to take the chance of losing you."

Jade looked into his eyes, then nodded. She placed her hands on the bundle. "What do I chant?"

"YOu know the spell Drago uses?"

She shivered. "Yes?"

"You...need to chant that, while I chant the good chi spell."

"How will that work?"

"This weapon...for it to be shaped right, it must be forged of equal parts human and demon chi. While I can work some good chi, I can't generate human chi...and we need that spell, and only someone with human chi can cast it, apparently. I tried, but..." He gestured to where he was burned.

Jade nodded. She took tight hold of the bundle. "Will...will this hurt? Like it hurts you to use good chi?"

Hsi sighed. "I...I don't know. That's why I tried to do it myself."

"...Okay..." Jade tensed herself, and began chanting.

"Mimi yago mina michi wa...Mimi yago mina michi wa..."

As she chanted, black lines appeared on her flesh, in a pattern identical to the green ones that had been on Hsi when she'd first found him. She squinted her eyes shut, obviously in pain.

"Jade! Stop, don't-"

"Mimi yago mina michi wa..." She continud to chant, working through the pain.

Hsi saw the magic was starting to gather. If he didn't do his part soon, it would backfire like before, but on Jade. Clutching the bundle tightly, he began to chant, as green lines appeared once more on his flesh.

"Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao...Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao..."

They chanted together.

"Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao...Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao..."

"Mimi yago mina michi wa...Mimi yago mina michi wa..."

As their chanting reached a peak, they both clenched their bodies against the pain. The circle glowed brightly in green and black, floated off the ground...and collapsed into the bundle.

The bindings and wrappings burst into flame. They dropped it. The weapon inside the bundle - the sword - came to rest, rotating and floating over the ground.

It was a standard sword shape. A four foot long blade in the sheath, six inches wide. The sheath was rather plain, but the hilt...

On one side, the relief showed a human impaled on demon claws. On the other, a demon was impaled on a sword. In both cases, the one being slain formed the crossguard with their outstretched arms. And if one looked closely...the hands were turned backwards, and the demon and human had their fingers interlaced. The genders of the two figures were...indeterminate.

"It's a symbol," Hsi gasped out finally. "If demons and humans don't learn to coexist, like we have...then the two races will eventually destroy each other. Go ahead, Jade...draw it."

"Me?" she gasped out.

"Yes. It is for you to wield."

Reaching out, Jade put her hand on the hilt. It was shaped exactly to the contours of her hand. Gently, she pulled...and the sheath slid off onto the ground.

The blade was a work of art. The steel didn't seem to be steel at all, it was so thin. It rippled in the light, seeming almost to be see through. As she tilted it, multi colored lights ran up and down its length, glinting off curiously designed blood channels. Then she felt something.

The sword hungered.

She immediately shoved it back in its sheath, and the sensation vanished. "What...what is this sword?"

Hsi sighed. "A forbidden weapon. In demon hands, even the mightiest chi wizard will find his magic useless and his life gone. In human hands, even the greatest of demon sorcerers will find themselves powerless. It is called...the Life Eater, the Sword that Devours its foes."

"Woah..." Jade said, staring at it. Carefully, she wrapped it up. "I...I hope I neer have to use it."

"As do I, Jade." Hsi pulled her into his arms, knowing they had made either their salvation...or their destruction. "So do I." 


	10. Brotherly Love

10. Brotherly Love

Jade walked along the street, looking at various shops. It was two weeks after forging the sword, and she still had it strapped to her back. Hsi had insisted she keep it with her at all times, for protection in case of attack from his siblings. She didn't like it. She didn't like the sword. She didn't like having to be afraid of the other demons. She...she hated the whole situation.

That was the real reason she was walking down the street alone today. As much as she loved Hsi Wu, she needed space from him.

...did she just admit to herself that she loved him?

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She told Hsi that she needed to shop for some...femenine products, and he'd been happy to let her go alone when she insisted. Walking along, now, she sighed. Sometimes, she wished things were simple. Sometimes, what with everything that was happening...she wished she'd been consumed by those flames nearly three years ago.

That's right...her birthday was coming up. Not that she celebrated it anymore. Not since it became the anniversarry of the death of her family.

"Something bothering you?"

She spun, her hand instinctively reaching over her shoulder for the sword. An elderly man sttod there, bald and white bearded. His face was so wizzened you couldn't see his eyes. He was wearing a flowing white robe and carrying a staff. As he approached her, she noticed that while the hem of robe flowed around his movements, there was no sign he was moving his legs to walk.

She took her hand away from the sword, and smirked. "You know, if this were anywhere else but California, that disguise wouldn't cut it."

THe old man looked a trifle offended. "What's wrong with it?"

She rolled her eyes. "Most old men don't look like wizards these days. Also, you need to move your legs when you walk. So...do I call you Soren?"

The old man seemed to blur in her eyes. His beard was much shorter and he wore a black cap over his bald scalp. The wooden staff became a cane, and the white robe became a business suit. "That seems...suitable." He proceeded to walk along beside her as she continued down the street. "So, how is my brother, Seaver doing?"

"He's adjusting pretty well," she said, knowing this was yet another spy meet...and hating it. "School's out for summer, now, so we're gonna be finding some other ways to entertain ourselves. Schedule's pretty open."

Soren nodded. "I fear this may be your last summer, so you should enjoy it as much as you can."

"What do you mean?" she asked, surprised. "Tabitha said one a month!"

"The balance," he said, smiling at Jade's quick thinking regarding his sister's name. "As long as the world is balanced, transfer is impossible. But the world is no longer in balance. The strength of good has been amplified by three. Now, the bridge has been strengthened...and on the summer solstice, the gates will be opened completely."

Jade's eyes widened. "The youngest...he planned this. He knows where you and Tabitha stand. That's why the two of you came first."

"Indeed. He is unconscionably clever. He also has plans with his father that are most...upsetting."

"Once he has what he wants, he won't need anyone else."

Soren looked down at her, impressed. "So you and Seaver figured it out? Impressive. It was the spell, wasn't it?"

Jade nodded. "That's why..." She touched the sword gingerly. It was still wrapped. "That's why Seaver saw fit to craft a Wild Card for our final trump."

Soren stared at the sword, and his eyes widened. "He didn't...that working is forbidden!"

Jade nodded sadly. "He said...as it stands, the outcome was uncertain, and he couldn't bear to lose me..."

Soren nodded sadly. "I understand." He looked up at the sky and sighed. "Father will not be pleased if he hears of this."

"Father?" she asked, surprised.

"Mother wouldn't be either, if she were still around. For Seaver's sake, I hope Father does not learn of this." Soren nodded to Jade. "The summer solstice, Jade...that is the last day. Enjoy what time you have left, for you might not get anymore. I know what the youngest plans for you." He turned to leave, then paused. "Your family...they loved you very much, and wherever they are now, I'm sure they still do. I think, perhaps, they would prefer you celebrated your birthday as they once did, as a way of remembering the good times." With that, he walked off.

Jade stared after him for a time, lost in thought. Slowly, she smiled. He was right. Maybe it was time to move on. After all, if this was going to be her last birthday...it should be a big one. After all, it was her sweet 16. Turning, she entered a shop and got what she came out here for, then headed for home.

When she got there, she saw Hsi putting something away in the back of a high cupboard. When he heard her, he shut the door quickly, but not before she caught sight of several brightly colored boxes. "Jade! You're back sooner than anticipated!" he said nervously.

She smiled. *How many people did Tohru invite?*

Hsi ducked his head. The fact that they could communicate like this still embarrassed him a bit, given what it signified. He also knew he couldn't lie to her like this. *Everyone. Viper, El Toro, Paco, Captain Black, his mother...*

Jade chuckled. *Good.* She looked pensive. *Think you could sneak an invite out to Tabitha and Soren?*

Seeing the images in her mind that went with the names, Hsi grinned. *I think we could manage that...it is going to be a pool party.*

*My sister cannot maintain a full image shape change like that outside of her element.*

*Oh. Well, I like swimming.* She walked up to Hsi and surprised him by planting a kiss right on his mouth. *But I like flying better.*

Hsi Wu melted into her arms, and she giggled. It felt good to be truely happy again. If only she didn't know how short lived it would be... 


	11. The Last Party, Part 1

11. The Last Paty, Part 1

Jade smiled as she came out to the pool out back. She didn't know how Tohru had managed it, but he'd worked a spell that turned the empty lot behind the antique shop into a backyard pool for the day. As she walked out to her party in her new green tie bikini, she could feel all eyes on her, and she flushed in pleasure. She glanced around at all the guests who were here.

Captain Black was there as the designated lifeguard, in uniform. She chuckled at the sight. He smiled and waved, and she waved back. She looked onward to everyone else.

There was Paco standing next to El Toro, both in matching Speedos and Masks. She averted her eyes. Paco probably thought he looked good in a speedo, which he might, if not for the mask. EL Toro definately should have picked something else.

Viper was there in a black one piece strapless swimsuit. She came over and gave Jade a hug, happy to see a smile on her face. "Good to see you back to your old self, squirt," Viper said, planting a kiss on her cheek.

Then there was Hsi, in his human form. The trunks looked good on him. She had a hard time keeping her eyes off of him. Not, in her personal opinion, that his human guise held a candle to his true physique.

Tohru stepped up, the only one not dressed for the occasion, as he was going to be handling all the food. "It looks like everyone's here now, birthday girl. Given the suit, I take it you're not surprised."

"Please, Tohru, it's me. Did you really think you could keep a party a secret from me? Especially when I'm the guest of honor? Besides, speaking of guests, we're still two short." She glanced at Hsi.

"They'll be here. Here comes one now," he said, pointing beyond the lot.

Tso Lan, in his chosen human form, walked into the yard in jeans and a blazer. His beard was cropped short, and his eyes were visible now, a silver that glowed with kindness. He placed a wrapped package on the stack of presents. Then he came over. "Happy Birthday, Jade Chan."

"Thanks." She turned to the others. "This is Soren, a friend of Seaver's from back home." Everyone's eyes widened as they made the mental connections and deduced his identity. "We were expecting one more-"

There was a splash, and the girl from that day at the school pool erupted out of the water, coming to rest floating with her head out of water. "Magically summoned water is SO much easier to warp through," she mumbled, then saw everyone looking at her. "Umm, I mean-"

"Tabithah! Glad you could make it!" Jade came over to her. "Wondered how you were going to make it here."

Tabithah looked coldly at Jade. "I came for Seaver, not you."

"Fair enough," Jade said with a nod.

Tabithah glanced away. "I understand at these occasions one is supposed to give a present to the birthday girl." She reaches under the water. "I wasn't able to wrap it." She hands Jade a pristine growth of coral.

Jade gasped, and took it carefully. "It's beautiful."

"If you put it in water, it will keep growing." Tabithah looked away, as though embarrassed.

Jade ran back into the shop and placed it carefully into the decorative fishtank Tohru had added recently, then ran back out and hugged Tabithah. "Thank you, it's wonderful."

"Don't go getting mushy on me," Tabithah said, slinking out of the embrace, blushing. She glared at Soren when he chuckled.

"Perhaps you should open your presents now," Tohru said, smiling.

Jade nodded, and went to the stack.

Soren had given her a moon rock, containing minute traces of gem not found on Earth. She wound up hugging him, too. He was less awkward about it than Tabithah was.

Tohru gave her a mage kit, saying that he would be pleased, now that she had the energy and focus for it again, to take her on as his apprentice.

Captain Black gave her a Section 13 milspec issue combat suit. "With all the trouble you get into, you need every trick in the book."

Viper gave her her own spy kit. "Jackie wouldn't have approved," she said, choking a little, "but that would just make you want it more, wouldn't it?"

Paco gave her a Lucha Libre mask of her own. "SO someday, you may enter the ring. Not that you will ever be as great as El Paco or El Toro." She gave him a look that spoke volumes. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to read it well.

El Toro gave her a leather bound book. "I have been working on it for some time. I hope you like it." It turned out to be a photo album...full of pictures of her time with everyone. Her parents, Jackie, Uncle, and everyone here. Happy memories all of them. She teared up a little as she hugged El Toro, no words to speak.

Then came Hsi's present. "I scowered the world, looking for something worthy of you. Don't know if I succeded." He opened the box, revealing a blood red tear-drop stone that sparkled with inner fire. "It is a beautiful gemstone, but it pales in comparison to you." Jade tried it on, found it fit her perfectly, then set it aside for while she was swimming. Then she hugged Hsi tight.

Then there was cake, and swimming, and party games. It was the best party she had had in years.

Then Paco started posturing and flirting, and Jade got annoyed. But Hsi stepped in.

"Can't you leave off on her for her birthday?"

"Excuse me? We are old friends, and I do not see what opinion you should have in how I interact with Jade." To Jade's supreme annoyance, he still slurred the J in her name, even though he slurred no others.

"You can't even get her name right! It's Jade, not Yade. Is it that you have so much muscle that it's squeezing your brain?"

Paco glared at Hsi. "Were you a Lucha Libre, I would break you for that insult."

"Don't let that stop you. You wanna go? In case you've forgotten," he tapped his face, breifly letting his finger become a claw, "you aren't the only one wearing a mask."

"Hmph! You would just use the abilities of your other form! Hardly a fair or honorable fight."

"What? You mean flying and shape changing? I'll stay groundbound and keep this shape. El Toro can act as referee."

"Very well," Paco said, rounding on Hsi. "I accept your challenge."

"Hold on," Jade said, standing up. "If we're going to do this, we need to do it properly."

"That's right," El Toro said. "We will need a ring."

"Nope!" Jade said. "We'll need a mudpit." Everyone looked at her oddly. "What? Two guys are fighting over me on my birthday. I think a mudpit is appropriate."

"When you put it that way," Viper said, trying not to laugh. "I'd like to see how this goes."

Soren used his cane to disturb enough earth for it, and Tabithah got it wet enough. "You know," she said in an aside, "if one of the wrestler's weren't Seaver, this would be most enjoyable. Jade must feel quite the empress right now."

The match began. At first they seemed evenly matched, and about all that was accomplished was they both got very muddy. After a while, though, Pace started to get the upper hand. "You forget, 'Seaver'," he said snarling. "I have been trained by the greatest wrestler ever: El Toro Querte! You stand no chance!" Paco had Seaver in a strangle hold from behind.

"You...forget..." Seaver squeaked out, seizing each of Paco's wrists. "Even without magic or tricks...I designed this form...to protect Jade!" The muscles in his arms stood out, and he forced Paco's arms apart. Then twisting while maintaining his grip, he slammed Paco into the mud. Then he jumped into the air and came down on top of Paco, crushing the air out of him. Getting up, he looked down at his fallen opponent. "Were we in a ring, this would be where I remove your mask...but I will not. You fought well, and I would not dishonor you."

Jade watching the whole thing, squeeled in delight. "Hsi, you were magnificent!" She started to run up and hug him, then stopped. "But now you need to shower. Come on." Grabbing his hand, she dragged him inside.

The grownups smiled at her antics. Paco groaned in the mud. 


	12. The Last Party, Part 2

12. The Last Party, Part 2

Hsi Wu stepped out of the shower, his towel wrapped around his waist. He wasn't sure what had come over him earlier, that he had behaved that way with Paco. Well, at least nothing bad had come of it. Jade had seemed to like it, and everyone else at least found it entertaining.

He thought about the gift he'd given Jade. He knew what it signified, but...he didn't know how he would explain it to her. He hoped she wouldn't think he had been deceiving her. Sighing, he shook his head and started to head towards the pool, but paused, wondering where Jade was.

He noticed her door was open. Stepping in, he spoke. "Jade?"

The door shut behind him. Jade stood there, smiling at him. She had put the necklace back on, and it hung down suggestively between her breasts held tight by her swimsuit...

He shook his head, trying to clear it of those thoughts, and noticed Jade touching a spot on the wall and drawing a rune. Symbols all around the room glowed.

"Jade...why do you have a mystic perception seal on your room?" He knew what those did. They cast an occult net that, when active, prevented anyone on one side from perceiving anything that occured on the other.

"At first," she said quietly, "I thought the nightmare's that plagued me might have been sent, and I put the seal up to filter them out. It didn't quite work, but after all the work I put into it, I didn't want to just take it down." She smiled. "Now, though, it's there so that what happens in my room...can not be perceived by anyone else."

Hsi raised an eyebrow. "What could happen in here that you would want kept so secret?"

Smiling, Jade undid her top, and let it fall to the ground. Stepping forward, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him tight against her. "Hsi, change back, please."

His mind not really functioning, he did as she asked. He felt her shudder against him as she felt the changes his body went through as he worked the magic. "Jade..." he asked when he was done. "What are you...what are we doing?"

She looked up into his eyes. "Hsi...the summer solstice is in two weeks."

"I know," he said, somewhat confused.

"...after what happened three years ago, I...I felt dead inside. I survived, but I didn't truly live. But then you came...and I began to live again. To love again." She kissed him squarely on his lips, a long, passionate kiss. He felt his knees shake. She pulled gently back. "I love you, Hsi Wu...and I need you now, before the battle comes where we all might die...to bring me to life."

He nodded slowly, unable to refuse her anything. He started to change back to human form.

"No," she said. "Like this. Please. It isn't the mask you wear to walk amongst humans that holds my heart," she took his claw in her hand, "but these demon claws that are both so strong and gentle, that tore the fabric of reality to be with me. I don't want the human face you make for yourself. I want the real you."

"But Jade..." he was stammering. "If-if we do this, then you-" she silenced him with another kiss.

"Please, Hsi." Her hand ran up along his arm, down across his chest, and then...even lower.

With a low moan, Hsi Wu felt his resistence crumble. He could not refuse her, and deep inside he did not want to. Wrapping his wings and arms around her, he let his mind go and let his heart rule him.

Her bikini bottom fell to the floor with his towel, unnoticed.

Tabithah floated in the water. The cake had been good, and she had actually been included in several party games. She had found socializing with humans to be...enjoyable. Soren came up to her.

"So tell me, sister," he said politely, "did you enjoy the party?"

"I...I think I actually did," she said, somewhat surprised by her own words. "Who knew humans could make things so much fun?"

"You know what comes in two weeks."

Tabithah looked away. "I know."

"Our nephew has painted the three of us as traitors to our siblings. Our brother has helped."

Tabithah looked down. "I...anticipated that."

"What will you do?"

"I can't fight my brothers and sister...please don't ask me to do that."

"I'm not. The battle will end, one way or another, and Seaver and I will hold no rancor towards you one way or another. I merely wonder...what are your plans?"

She was quiet for a while. "THere's...a litle island out in the middle of the ocean, totally uninhabited. No animals, just a few plants. I thought...it might be a nice place to retire. Just sit back and relax, bask in the sun when I feel like it, you know? And surrounded by water. A kingdom for one..."

Soren smiled. "A home. And perhaps, someday, you might find someone you want to share it with."

"...maybe..." Tabithah tilted her head, then smiled. She had just sensed a major change in the flow of planetary chi. Something good had just happened, and she could just bet what it was. She chuckled.

"Is something amusing? Please, share the joke."

She shook her head. "Let's just say...I now have a lot to think about. Ask Jade and Hsi's forgivness for my early departure." She vanished into the water.

Some hours later, Jade and Hsi Wu lay on her bed, wrapped up in each other, totally exhausted. Looking down at the woman he loved, Hsi knew what his future now held...a future he would fight for, and die for if necessarry. "Jade..." he whispered.

"Hmm?" she asked, seeming only half awake.

"About the pendant I gave you...there's something I didn't tell you about it."

"Oh?" She pushed herself up, placing her elbows on his chest. "What's that?"

"The gem...it's called the Stone of Promise." Her eyes went wide. "Only found in certain places on the Earth, it can only be quarried and shaped by magic and blood. Because of its rarity, complexity, and the fact that once shaped it can never be broken...it was considered symbolic of...a certain type of bond long ago."

"Hsi...are you saying..."

"I believe modern tradition...would have had me put it on a ring."

Jade's eyes went wider.

"I guess...what I mean to ask you...when all this is over, and the dust settles...if we're both still here...will you marry me?"

Jade sat in stunned silence for a while, then threw her arms around him. "YES! Yes! A thousand times, yes!" Tears of joy streaming from her eyes, she held him tight.

His joy filling him, he still couldn't stop himself from saying, "I should hope we'll only need to do it once."

She pulled back and glared at him.

"...sorry..." 


	13. Blood

13. Blood

It was the morning of the summer solstice. The preperations were all complete. There was no point in hiding anything anymore.

Bai Tsa had told them where the portal would be opened, the only location it could be opened, no matter how much power Drago brought to bear. Ironically, it was the same place the final battle against him had taken place all those years ago, when he and his father were dragged back into the netherworld by Uncle and Tohru's reversal spell.

They were assembled there: Jade, the sword unwrapped and strapped to her back; Hsi Wu, disguise dropped, standing with his arm around her; Viper, dressed for combat, with a few enchanted tools; El Toro and Paco, ready to wrestle the demons into submission; Tohru, his spell ingredients prepared, his magic primed; and Tso Lan, floating over them in his natural form.

Hsi Wu turned once a gain to Jade. "I wish you didn't have to be here," he said, not for the first time.

"Hsi," Jade said, "I'm not running away. I'm not hiding. I'm going to stand and fight, just like all of you." She was in her combat suit she got from Captain Black. She was a little unnerved at how well it fit her.

Hsi gave up. She was such a stubborn girl. "All right. Just...be careful, okay?"

"Promise, love." Leaning over, she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

The sky started to ripple. "Here it comes!" Tso Lan shouted.

The sky ripped open, and six figures came through the portal before it closed.

Drago floated in the air, along side his father Shendu and his uncle Tchang Zu the thunder demon. Po Kong landed heavily on the ground, with Xiao Fung the wind demon landing lightly on her shoulder. Dai Gui the Earth Demon landed heavily next to his sister.

Drago glared down at Hsi Wu and Tso Lan. "Last chance to rejoin the family, traitors."

Tso Lan glanced at Hsi Wu, and Hsi spoke for both of them. "You can take your offer, and-" he used words that weren't english. Jade remembered them from her mind speak with Hsi, and while they didn't translate very well, it was incredibly rude, not to mention anatomically improbable. Po Kong had a very hard time keeping a straight face, and Xiao Fung laughed aloud.

"I have to admit, brother," he said to Hsi Wu, "you have always had style. It will be a shame to destroy you." And he leaped forward, and the battle engaged.

Before anyone else had a chance to react, Tso Lan demonstrated his mastery of Gravity by lifting Po Kong and Dai Gui into the air, seperating them from the power of their elements, weakening them considerably. While they still had their spells, he was able to handle both of them, although it took all of his magic and concentration.

Hsi Wu battled fiercely with Xiao Fung. Their battle took them through the skies, where Hsi had an advantage. Unfortunately, Xiao was tricky, and caught Hsi in several spell traps before he became more careful.

Tohru went spell to spell with Shendu. Although Shendu was quite powerful, he relied heavily on his talismans to see him through, and Tohru had spent some time crafting shield spells to negate the more devastating of their effects. As such, they were evenly matched.

Jade squared off with Drago. For some time, they simply stared each other down, knowing that, with this fight, the first mistake could well be the last.

El Toro, Paco, and Viper squared off against the demon minions that had been summoned, their mystically enhanced combat methods dealing swiftly with them, although there always seemed to be more.

Tchang Zu reared a hand back with lighting, intending to take pot shots on the other battles...only to be hit in the back by a metal clad fist. Turning, he saw Captain Black in a metal robot. "Looking for a fight?" Augustus asked.

"Too easy," Tchang said, and threw a lightning bolt at the robot, expecting it to fry. Instead, to his surprise, the robot absorbed the electricity.

"Thanks for the charge!" Captain Black shouted, and the robot discharged a laser right into the demon's face.

Jade drew her sword. Drago conjured one of magic. Charging forward, they clashed blades. Jade recognized a critical error in the design of the sword. A human could not wield its magic against another human. Drago used his human chi to shield himself from its more devastating magic. Fortunately for her, the sword shielded her from his magical attacks, and they were about even where it came to sword skill.

The battle continued, seemingly for ages. The first to fall was Captain Black. Tchang Zu ripped an arm bodily off the robot and used it to smash the machine to pieces. "This ends now!" he shouted, gathering a huge blast of electricity. He saw that Tso Lan was weakening, and knew this blast could take out Captain Black AND his traitorous brother.

Suddenly, before he could release it, a voice screamed out, "LEI SHWEI ZAI!" and something glowing blue ripped out of Drago, as he lost his water demon chi, making him stumble. The energy flew over...and fused into Bai Tsa. Raising her arms, water roared from out of every manhole, every lake, every toilet and sink. It arose in a torrent and covered Tchang within moments. He screamed as his electricity backfired in the water, overloading him and knocking him out of the fight. Turning, Bai held him in a sphere of water, and used the rest to hold up Po Kong. "Allow me to help you, brother," she said to Tso Lan.

"Bai Tsa!" Dai Gui shouted. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Protecting the future," she said criptically, before swimming through her water to slap his face repeatedly with her tail.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Tso Lan used the opening Bai had created in Drago's defenses to take back HIS demon chi fragment. Once it remerged with him, he took a deep breath. "My power returns!" he shouted, and smashed Dai Gui into Po King's head, dazing them both.

"NO! I'm too close! It can't end like this!" Drago turned in fury on Jade. "I may lose this battle, but so will you!" Turning towards Hsi Wu, he pointed and chanted. "Mimi ya go mina michi wa...Mimi ya go mina michi wa..."

Hsi Wu's body began to glow, and he screamed in pain as he fell from the sky, his chi weakening.

"NO!" Jade shouted. She wouldn't let Drago devour Hsi Wu! Chargin in, she thrust the sword into Drago's chest and...twisted and pulled.

Drago screamed. A glowing image of a flute flew out of his body and merged into Hsi Wu, who regained his flight as his chi levels returned to normal.

Everyone stared at what happened next. Energy seemed to be streaming out of Drago and into the sword. His body shrank as demonic features fell off of his body and were absorbed, no devoured, by the sword. His scales broke away. When Jade finished pulling the sword out, there was no wound...but there also was no demon.

Sitting where Drago had stood was a human in his mid-20s with red hair and green eyes, and Drago's facial features. He stared at his hands and screamed, and it was Drago's scream.

"You bitch!" Shendu cried out, knocking ohru aside as he charged. "What have you done to my son!" Charging forward, he punched Jade in the gut with all his strength.

She flew backward and landed heavily on the ground, somehow maintaning her grip on the sword. Bai Tsa gasped, her hand going to her mouth.

"Jade!" Hsi Wu cried out. Abandoning the battle, he flew to her. When Xiao tried to interfere, he was seized in a bubble of water by Bai Tsa.

Reaching Jade's side, Hsi began to check her over. First he checked her breathing, her heart beat, her chi levels. Everything seemed normal, but...

Only Bai understood what happened next. After checking Jade's physical status, he paused, his ears twitching. In seeming desperation, he put his ear against her abdomen, ears twitching, trying to catch the slightest sound. After a few minutes, tears fell from his eyes, and he rounded on Shendu, his eyes glowing a blood red deeper than anything the sorcerers had seen.

"YOU!" Hsi Wu shouted out in a voice as deep as darkness itself. "DO you know what you have cost me? Cost us?" The sky ripped open, and a howl of ancient fury could be heard. Hsi Wu lunged for his brother.

Shendu tried to fight back. "Be reasonable, Hsi Wu. YOu saw what she did to my son! GYAH!" He screamed when Hsi Wu ripped his arm off.

"And so you kill my unborn daughter!" Hsi screamed in fury, smashing the arm into Shendu's face.

Bai started to cry. The other demons and humans stared on in shock. Shendu found all the demons turned on him, and he stood alone against his brother's vengeance.

"I...I didn't know she was-" he was silenced as Hsi Wu ripped out his tongue.

"Your talismans will not protect you from my vengeance now, Shendu!" Hsi plunged his hands into Shendu's chest, and the dragon screamed. "I will rip your soul from your body and tear it to pieces!" He began to chant. "Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao...Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao..." The green lines appeared on his body, and Shendu screamed in agony as good chi burned his very soul.

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone turned as that voice split the air. A bolt of black lightning came down between Hsi Wu and Shendu, forcing them apart. When the smoke cleared, a creature from nightmare's stood there.

He was 100 feet tall, garbed in black armor that seethed and shifted. His face was hidden behind a war helm that had obviously been designed by someone having the nightmares from several exotic substances, and had tried to create something that would scare those horrors away. All that could be seen were the being's glowing red eyes...all 13 of them. Huge bat wings spread, and the being raised its four arms and brought them down. All demon power ceased to function as the demons all fell to the ground.

Tohru spoke up. "Chaos..." he whispered, as though naming a dark god.

Only Tso Lan spoke then, and the one word he spoke sent chills down everyone's spine. "Father," he said simply.

The father of the demon sorcerers turned to scan his offspring, contempt radiating from him in waves. He inhaled, preparing to speak, but before he could, Hsi Wu recovered.

"Womb breaker! Soul Slayer! Child Killer!" He lunged forward, but was held back by Bai Tsa. He pointed his hand at Shendu. "May your crime haunt you forever! May you forever be plagued by what you have done! May all who meet you see it in you, the blood that is on your hands! May you never again know the joy you have taken from me! -Ishtok Marzak Trex!-" As he spoke the last three words, a black lighting bolt leaped from his hand and struck Shendu full on, and he screamed.

The being Tso Lan called father turned to Bai Tsa. "Is what he speaks true, daughter?"

Bai Tsa nodded. "The girl there-" she pointed at Jade "-carried Hsi Wu's unborn child, and I could feel the altered flow of chi around her. I feel that no more. The child is gone."

Jade had come to in time to hear this, and let out a choking sob. Curling up, she placed her hands disbelievingly on her belly. "Our baby..." was all she could get out as the tears poured down her face.

With a wail of grief, Hsi Wu ran to her and wrapped her in his arms, holding her tight, sheilding her in his wings.

Chaos turned on Shendu. "You know the ancient law, Shendu. The unborn are untouchable. You know the punishment for breaking this law, especially when it was one of your own family!"

Shendu began to beg. "But father...I did not know she was with child. And...and look what she did to my son!" He pointed to Drago, who still stared in dibelief at his human hands.

Chaos looked for a while, then glanced towards the sword. One eye changed to a blue glow as he scryed the recent past. Then it changed back. "How fitting. I think...that since you knew not, I shall show some leniency." As the other sorcerers gasped, the sword floated up from the ground. "I shall let your brother's curse be your eternal punishment!" The sword slashed once, and when it passed a human floated where Shendu had been, one with pale white hair and blood red eyes. "Begone, fallen one, while I leave you with your life!"

The human who was once Shendu the demon fled, screaming, into his living hell, leaving his demonic arm behind.

Chaos turned towards the demons who had fought along side Shendu. "I am most displeased. You could see the disease in Drago's mind, yet you did nothing. YOu fought alongside him. I am dissapointed." He raised a hand. "Consider yourselves grounded." With a flick of his wrist, he sent them back to the netherworld. Then he turned to the others.

Hsi Wu faced his father down defiantly.

Chaos sighed. "Hsi Wu of Sky...what would you do now?"

"I'm not leaving Jade...not ever. And it will take more than YOU can bring to bear, Father, to take me from her."

Chaos chuckled sadly. "I wager you are right. Very well. Your life is your own, to do with as you see fit." Although nothing was visible, there was a sense of a smile in his voice. "I am proud of you, son." He turned to the remaining two. "And you?"

Tso Lan spoke for both of them. "We stand with our brother in his grief."

"And what will you do when it has run its course?"

"Bai Tsa has found a place she wishes to settle down in...and I think I would like to go to Vegas to make my way and fortune. I think my powers might just be a good business venture, if utilized right."

Chaos chuckled. "Very well. As you choose. Come here, Bai Tsa." He lowered one hand, and Bait swam onto it. He lifted her up to his face.

"It was a hard choice you made, trying to protect the future by turning against your brothers. You never did like to take sides when you all fought. I am glad to see you have found the strength to be your own demon."

She smiled. "Thank you, Father."

One hand reached up and tickled her gently. "But you're still my little girl."

Bai Tsa giggled. "Father..."

Gently, he set her down. "My blessing on you my children." He glanced towards Jade, and something changed in his eyes. "Your mother's blessing, too, apparently." Laughing to himself, he faded from sight, and the sky and world returned to normal.

Quietly, everyone began to pick up the pieces. They had won, but for some...the price of victory was far too high. 


	14. Blessings

14. Blessings

Two weeks after the final battle, things were worse than ever. Jade had sunk completely back into the depression that had consumed her three years ago, and Hsi Wu was in much the same state. Bai Tsa and Tso Lan had tried to offer comfort, but soon left, the pain too much for them as well.

Bai Tsa had withdrawn to the island she had found out at sea. Her wails of grief for the loss of her unborn neice led many sailors to believe in the old myths of sirens and banshees. No one went anywhere near the island.

Tso Lan sought solace in building his future. Working with Captain Black, he was able to get the neccessarry paperwork together to buy some land in Vegas. Using his magic, he carefully manuevered an asteroid to land carefully on his property, gently affixing it to the ground. He then carefully manipulated the space rocks gravitational field to create a warren of tunnels within, as well as affix several restaurant and casino based fixtures to the outside. His establishment - The Fallen Star - opened then, a mixture of restaurant, hotel, casino, and theme park, as he used his magic to randomize the gravitational fields within. Some good advetisement, and it looked like it would be a succesful business.

SHendu had been allowed to wander. No one cared what happened to him anymore, knowing the power of the curse he was under.

Drago was locked up in a maximum security prison, permanent solitary confinement.

Viper went back to her career, unable to face Jade in the state she was in now. El Toro and Paco went back to Mexico, leaving best wishes and prayers that the young couple would overcome.

Tohru desperately prayed to any who would listen for a miracel, as he continued to run the shop.

Captain Black came to talk to Jade and Hsi Wu. "Look, Jade, I know how much what has happened to you hurts emotionally...but you can't keep putting off the doctor's visit. I've got the best doctor standing by at Section 13 to check you over. Please, Jade. YOu've lost so much, and nothing can bring it back...but you can't risk dying because of it. We need to check for internal injuries."

Jade didn't respond at all. She just stared off into the distance. Hsi Wu nodded. "I'll bring her." He picked Jade up in his arms and followed Captain Black to Section 13. They took the stairs in.

Jade sat, not really looking at anything, not really listening as the doctor examined her. Although she could tell he was talking to her, it just...didn't seem to matter. She absentmindedly followed his directions.

When the doctor left, she stared off into space. Her family was gone. Her friends had abandoned her. Her baby...

The darkness hit her in a wave. She felt suffocated, unable to breathe through the depression. As the tears fell down her face, she looked around the room. Her eyes fell on a scalpel. SLowly she stood up, and started to reach towards it.

She heard noises from outside. The noises sounded...happy. She couldn't take it anymore.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and Hsi Wu ran up, laughing, and pulled her into his arms, swinging her around, repeating over and over, "Mother's blessing...mother's blessing..." and laughing hysterically.

In frustration, confusion and pain, Jade snapped at him. "Hsi WU! What's gotten into you!"

Still laughing, Hsi Wu seized a stethoscope and put it in Jade's ears. He placed the other end against her belly. "Shh...listen," he said with a huge grin.

She stared at him for a while like he was crazy, and opened her mouth to give a scathing retort. Then through the stethoscope, she heard it, almost like an echo but it's own distinct sound.

*thud-thud*

She gasped, and listened hard. There it was again, no mistaking it. "How..."

Hsi Wu smiled. "Mother...she reigns over chaos. Father wields the chaos of the eternal now...but Mother reigns over the chaotic influence of everything that was...and everything that might be. Mother's blessing...brought our baby back to life." Tears streamed down his cheeks, and love shone from his eyes.

Jade stared at him, then looked into herself with the magic she had learned. There, unmistakably, was the soul and life force of her unborn baby.

The undeniable proof of reality washed away the overwhelming disbelief and sorrow, and Jade threw her arms around her beloved. 


	15. Epilogue: Belonging

Epilogue: Belonging

Dear Diary,

Today was a rather ordinary day for me. Wake up, shower, dress, school. Classes are dull, as usual. Acadamia has always come easily to me, which makes school pretty much boring.

Then there was P.E., where we're supposed to get our daily dose of physical activity. I get more activity flying to and from school. And really, dodgeball?

After school, I left as fast as I could. The other kids still haven't accepted me. I know red eyes are wierd for a human, but then I'm not fully human, am I? ...I guess that's why I can never feel at peace in school; I just don't belong there.

I called Mom, told her I'd be late getting home from school. I was gonna visit some of my relatives. Mom was okay with it as long as I made it home for dinner. That was Mom's rule: as long as everyone stayed safe and took care of themselves, we could go pretty much wherever during the day...as long as we were home for dinner. Even Dad, whose job takes him all over the world on a regular basis - he's a pilot - makes it home for dinner every night. Probably would be harder on him without his shortcuts.

Speaking of, I used them to visit my Uncle. Otherwise, it's a long flight from San Fran to Vegas. I shifted my shape completely to take the shortcut.

I don't like my demon form. Sure, blue skin with flowing black hair and blood red eyes are impressive, and the thick tail makes a good in-flight rudder...but it's not me. ...any more than my human form is really me, now that I think about it.

Visiting Uncle Soren was nice. When I'm there as his neice, I go by Syl Var the Skyborn. Kinda silly, but that way no one makes a connection to my human name, and I don't have reporters pounding my door every day. Uncle's gotten kinda famous, what with his unique facility there.

TO my surprise, Uncle's got himself a girlfriend! A human inventor who was always trying to reverse engineer the 'technology' Uncle used to run his attraction. She actually got a working model that did almost everything Uncle could do! WHen she showed him this, he explained to her what he really was, and offered to teach her how he REALLY did it. She jumped at the chance. Her name's Rina Markson, and she's smitten with Uncle Soren, even in his demon form. Uncle was confused about her comment about his tongue, though.

For my Mom's sake, in case she reads this, I'm going to pretend I don't know what she meant by that yet.

Unable to handle the lovey-dovey way they were acting, I bid an early farewell. I decided to visit Aunt Tabby out at sea. I took another shortcut.

Mom doesn't like the shortcuts. She says they make her sick, what with reality warping as you pass in moments from one point to another in what should take hours. I think they're good fun, like the greatest roller coaster ever invented. ALthough I admit the swirling colors as all reality blends together as you pass through a place between places can be unnerving if you aren't ready for it.

My visit with Aunt Tabby, however, was even less helpful for me. Turns out, SHE'S fallen for a marine biologist who thinks she's a mermaid. SHe's only ever met him in the water, where she can change her shape. She wants to reveal herself to him, but is worried he'll reject her true appearance. I tried talking to her about it, but I'm ten. Even by human standards, I'm not supposed to know much about romance yet. And it's not like I have any experience yet.

While we were discussing this, who should accidentally stumble across the island but the young man in question! After a few moments of awkward hiding and a silver tounged compliment, I have to leave before I vomit from the sappy-sweetness or drown in carttonish hearts.

I decided to visit one more relative. I'm not supposed to know about this one, and Mom would kill me if she knew I went to see him, but I need questions answered, and he's the only one who might know the answers.

After all, he's the only other half demon alive.

I don't bother with going through the security on his prison. Even if he was allowed visitors, they'd never let me in. He doesn't have a window, so I phaze through a wall into the shadows.

That's another thing Mom doesn't know I can do. I'll tear this sheet out and hide it when I'm done writting.

He felt my presence immediately, of course. "WHat do you want?" he demanded of me.

Yes, I'm going to write out the whole conversation. It stuck with me.

"Is that any way to greet your cousin?"

"I don't have a cousin."

"YOu do. And that's why I came to see you. I need to know...is there anywhere you felt you belonged? Is there anywhere someone like us can belong?"

"What do you mean, someone like us?"

That's when I stepped out, and he saw me in what I consider my natural state.

He laughed. "So you didn't die, eh? Or are you just a ghost? Either way, let me tell you: no world has a place for someone who is of both and neither. THere is no place for a half-breed." He spat on the ground.

"So you sought to make your own world, one where you could belong?"

He thought for a time. "Yeah...something like that, maybe." He sighed. "Wouldn't have worked. I'd have still been alone."

"...I'm sorry I disturbed you."

He ignored me as I left.

And now here I am, back at home in my room, waiting for Dad to get home so that Mom will call me down to-

"Sylvia Wu Chan! Come to dinner this instant! Your father will be home in a couple of minutes!"

"COming Mom!" Sylvia ran downstairs, settling for dinner.

Jade stared down at her daughter in her in-between form. Slitted pupils gazed out of her red eyes. Her black hair hung long and wavey. Her ears were higher on her head, and sharply pointed. Bat wings sprouted from her back, which was why she only wore backless shirts. Her tail extended from her cocyx, long and whip-like, forked at the end. CLaws tipped her fingers and toes, and her skin had a slight blue tint.

Sighing, Jade rested her hand on her daughter's head, between her ears. "YOu know, you can wear whatever form you want here. Your father won't have a problem if you chose to look human."

Sylvia shifted uncomfortably. "But I'm not human, Mom. THis is the real me."

Jade sighed. "Can't argue with that." CHuckling, she turned as the door opened. "Welcome home, dear."

"DADDY!" Sylvia shouted, running to embrace her father as he discarded suitcase and human form with equal alacrity.

"There's my girl!" he shouted, scooping her up into his arms.

Laughing together, the little family sat down to dinner.

Sorry about that break. I had to go to dinner.

I love my mother, my father, my Uncle, my Aunt...even my cousin. And they all love me...okay, maybe my cousin doesn't.

Maybe...just maybe...loving and being loved, is more important than belonging.

...at least for now. 


End file.
